Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Grouse, Roast
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Pluck and draw the grouse, but do not wash or dampen the inside.
Truss the grouse like a fowl.
Roast
Roast in the oven at 400°F (200°C).
When half done, place a slice of buttered toast under the bird.
Baste the grouse frequently.
Cook for 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve
Serve with bread sauce, fried breadcrumbs, and good gravy.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grouse
- The main meat, which cooks through in the oven and browns on the outside.
- Bread
- Toast under the bird soaks up drippings and fat, becoming rich and flavorful.
- Butter
- Adds fat that carries flavor and helps the bird and toast brown.
The step that matters
Cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Grouse is a lean game bird with little fat, so overcooking dries out the meat quickly. Frequent basting adds moisture to the surface, but timing still decides whether the meat stays juicy.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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